Based on
representative food consumption and production data, they compared the
environmental impacts of various eating styles. They took results from
the last National Nutrition Survey, which in 2005 and 2006 saw around 20,000
people in Germany interviewed in great detail with regard to their eating
habits, and evaluated these from a nutritional ecology perspective.

In terms of impacts on the greenhouse effect, ammonia emissions (by way of
fertilizers) and the amount of land required, it was the average nutritional
pattern of women which demonstrated clear advantages, resulting from lower
proportions of those foods whose production is more of a burden on the
environment. These mostly include animal products, in particular beef and
veal as well as butter and pork.

'If all the men in Germany were to
adopt the typical consumption profile of women, whereby their consumption
of meat and sausage products would be reduced by around a half and these
would be replaced by higher levels of vegetables, fruit and cereal
products, this would free up an area at home and abroad of approximately
15,000 square kilometres. That's slightly larger than Northern Ireland.'
explains study leader Toni Meier of the Department of Agronomy and Organic
Farming at the Martin Luther University. 'What's more, greenhouse
gas and ammonia emissions would be cut by about 15 million and 60,000
tonnes.'

In Germany, food is estimated to be responsible for about
20 per cent of the overall greenhouse effect. 'With regard to ammonia,
food consumption is actually responsible for 95 per cent of all
emissions,' points out Toni Meier. 'Our results make it clear that,
depending on the proportion of the overall effect, the potential impact
had by dietary shifts could vary considerably. Women's nutritional habits
may serve as a good example.''